


Waiting for the Sunrise

by Liara_90



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action/Adventure, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Mission Fic, POV Multiple, POV Third Person, Pre-Canon, Team Bonding, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 07:16:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19421098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liara_90/pseuds/Liara_90
Summary: Another day, another mission. One which goes sideways for Team STRQ as soon as they think they're in the clear.Pre-canon STRQ fic.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This doesn’t _quite_ fit into the [A Home of Sticks](https://archiveofourown.org/series/959265) series chronology, but it’s very much of that same interpretation.

* * *

_….I know it’s tempting fate but it’s been a really slow summer, right? Not just me? Not that I’m_ complaining _, of course, but..._

The most dangerous part of any mission, all his teachers had always told him, was right after you thought it was over.

_...Hey, did you see how I took out that Boarba’? Totally improvised but I think I made it work…._

Tai knew that that truism was a bit of an exaggeration, if an understandable one. There was, in his growing number of experiences, more than enough danger smack dab in the middle of the mission itself. Usually in the form of something with fangs, horns and/or claws trying to separate your skin from your bones. But it was still a good saying. Once the fighting was over, when you caught your breath, and the ambient chirping of wildlife returned… and you thought you were _safe_ … That was when, Tai had been taught, you were at your absolute most vulnerable.

_...yeah, she said it was like 20 or 25% compared to the 15 we get. I don’t know what that works out to when to add in the higher expenses, though, so it might not actually ..._

Unfortunately, Taiyang Xiao Long had never been a particularly attentive pupil.

One moment, he was leading STRQ on the slow trek back to their base camp, sweating and bruised and basking in the satisfaction of a job well done. The next moment, he was being slammed to the ground, the air knocked from his lungs as he was tackled to the forest floor.

“Qrow on your six! _”_

Tai gasped painfully as his diaphragm spasmed, desperately trying to get oxygen to his lungs as adrenaline raced through his veins. He tried to get up but a firm hand - Raven’s, he somehow knew - shoved him back to the dirt. With his eyes squeezed shut he didn’t see what passed over him, but the _whooshing_ air in its wake told him that it was _large_.

_“_ Summer _!”_

“I see it!”

“Then get to Qrow’s-”

Taiyang staggered to his feet, the camping backpack he’d been hauling suddenly feeling like a boulder on his shoulders. Wiping dirt from his eyes, he took in the melee, the details registering in his mind without conscious thought. _Grimm_. Not a lot, but more than there should have been, certainly this close to the treeline. Ursa and Beowolves, it looked like, flanking from the north and south-east. Summer and Qrow had gone on offense, while Raven was-

”- said _come on_ ,” she barked, an angry snarl on her face. Her brow was furrowed, her gaze swiveling between Tai and the Grimm, sword already in hand. One of the Ursa made the mistake of charging Raven head-on, only to be cleaved clean through in a single stroke.

“I thought we already cleared this sector,” Tai griped, as he raced to keep pace with Raven, unceremoniously unslinging his backpack as he ran. Another Beowolf tried to side-swipe him, but this time he was alert enough to blast it backwards with a punch. “ _Gods_ you think they’d be smart enough to just _lay low_ for a few days.”

He heard Raven snort, even over the sound of her running her blade through an Ursa. “Goliaths these are not, Tai,” she noted. The Ursa dissolved around the sword that had impaled it, leaving Raven holding a sword stuck into a tree. “They don’t get tactical thinking until a couple of decades, at least.”

Tai punched back another two Beowolves, steadying himself with the rhythm of battle. “Well, let’s make sure they don’t get it.”

Raven rolled her eyes at the cheesiness of the line, even if there was a ghost of a smile on her lips. It vanished just as quickly. “Lancers, incoming!”

“Fuck!” Tai swore, as he bolted towards the nearest tree, the sickening buzz of the enemy already in his ears. For the second time that day he felt a _whoosh_ as a Lancer’s stinger shot past his head, seeming to _hum_ as it raced through the air. “How many?”

He could still make out Qrow and Summer, half-hidden by the trees, leaping from trunk to trunk as they hacked their way through the multitude of Grimm, but Raven had vanished somewhere behind him. They were being attacked from at least three directions, and now from _above_ , by a horde of monsters who absolutely should not have been there.

“Three or four dozen,” Summer called out, her voice rising above even the frantic melee of violence. “Probably a whole nest.”

Tai suppressed a curse. Some part of his brain _knew_ that they had to make a decision, and they had to make it _fast_. Stay and fight, or run and hide. Or rather - go out in a blaze of glory, or be picked off one by one?

Something pushed up against his back, but he knew without looking that it was Raven, could feel the mane of her hair on the nape of his neck. She was breathing heavily, but not frantically, stressed but not panicked.

“Where’s Summer? And Qrow?” Tai asked, deflecting an incoming stinger with a precise jab of his fist. He heard Raven doing the same behind him, her sword slashing neatly through the abdomen of a Lancer that had dared close in for the kill.

“Playing offense,” Raven answer coolly. “Like we should be.”

Tai said nothing, but nodded softly to himself. If STRQ had one weakness, it was that they were all close-quarters fighters, with Qrow’s Harbinger containing the only ranged weapon between the four of them. That left them vulnerable to just about every sort of projectile attack, as they _needed_ to close the distance to their attackers or risk having their Auras chipped away to nothingness. It was generally more a problem when fighting other Huntsmen rather than Grimm - but Lancers and their ilk were the exceptions.

“Think we can take ’em all out?” Tai asked.

Behind his back, Raven grinned. “Probably,” she answered. “But if it looks too bad, Qrow and I can always fly out of here.”

Tai cocked his head, trying not to let Raven’s somewhat strange sense of humor get to him. He turned to glance her way, only to be tackled sideways, just out of the path of an Ursa barreling down on them.

“Warn me next time,” Tai panted, as he and Raven scrambled to their feet. The Ursa had continued running right past them, and was halfway up the trunk of a nearby tree before Tai could spit the dirt from his mouth.

“Start killing some things,” Raven replied dryly, “and maybe I won’t have to.”

And with that she was off, leaping up the spruce’s branches and bringing her sword to bear on the Ursa that had ascended it. The Grimm was a hair quicker than the rest of its pack, though, and Tai felt something sickening in his stomach as the Ursa managing to slam Raven back to the trunk of the tree. Raven barely caught herself in time, rough bark digging into her skin as she steadied herself on the tree limb.

The Ursa did not get lucky twice.

* * *

“ _Tai_! Tai, are you okay?” Summer ran over to the tree stump Taiyang was sitting on, her face marred with concern. Tai made a half-assed effort to wave her off, but in truth, Raven knew he enjoyed the extra attention. “That Ursa came out of nowhere, I’m sorry I missed it!”

Tai shook his head, smiling despite himself as Summer fussed over his cuts and scrapes. “Don’t worry, Summer,” Tai assured her, as Summer produced a handkerchief with which to wipe the worst of the dirt from the widest of his cuts. “Raven managed to tackle me right before it hit.”

“And don’t you forget it,” Raven said, her tone flat but her intentions teasing. She punched Tai lightly on the shoulder, which elicited a melodramatic yelp of pain from the Huntsmen, and a reproving scowl from Summer. “I’m not always going to be around to save your ass.”

“Bold words considering Summer and I did most of the actual _killing_ ,” Qrow interjected, the last of STRQ to arrive at the tree stump. “What’d that look like, Summer, a five- or four-class pack? _Most of which_ I killed single-handedly, I might add.” Qrow shook his head and withdrew his flask, greedily gulping the cool, clear water within.

“ _Someone_ had to keep this idiot alive,” Raven bit back. Her hand found the back of Taiyang’s head, and scratched it gently.

Summer’s silver eyes darted ever so briefly to Raven’s, but the other woman was still looking down at Taiyang.

“Well, nice hustle, everyone,” Tai finally said, slapping his knees. “Would be nice _r_ if they paid us on a per-Grimm commission, but of course-”

“-Tai, I think you’re bleeding,” interrupted Raven. The necked scratching had ceased, and Raven’s touches suddenly became a lot more deliberate.

“I’m not bleeding, Raven,” he replied, uncertainly. Tai moved to stand, but both Summer and Raven were checking for injuries now, with a paramedic’s purposefulness.

“ _Raven, I didn’t see any injuries earlier._..”

Summer gently tilted his head, ran her fingers along his scalp.

“... _Then where’d this blood on my hand come from, Rose?_ ”

“-My Aura level is still pretty decent, so-”

“ _Um, Raven?”_

Raven’s hands lifted up the back of Tai’s shirt.

_“What?”_

_“I think it’s_ yours.”

Raven blinked.

“I didn’t even get hit, Rose,” she replied, hunching forward and resting her hands on her thighs. She felt something hot and sticky, which for one absurd moment she thought was honey. And then she straightened up, and stared at her hand.

“That’s…” Qrow’s voice sounded like a gunshot in the forest, so silent were the other three. “That’s a _lot_ of blood, Raven.”

Raven stared at her hand for a second, and then began frantically unstrapping her gauntlet, rolling up the sleeves of her tunic as she did. And then she saw it, saw the vicious slash mark across her arm, the blood flowing freely across her pale white skin.

Strangely enough, though, she _still_ didn’t feel it, was dissociated from it, like she was watching a low-budget hospital drama at 3 AM. Then she started feeling very heavy.

“Of all the fucking... “

And then Raven’s world went black.


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

Raven hovered on the cusp of consciousness, for what felt like an eternity.

  


* * *

Ĭ͎̭͖̫̤̖ͩ͊͐̚'̡̭̟͙̙̐̽̌ͧ̿̓̕m̛̳̠̙̻̲̈́̈̊ ̸̴̩͚̺̮͇̩ͬ̇̆ͯͥ̾t̴̘̹͉̙̥͈́̐i̸̠̺̪̽̏̋̇̍g̷̖̼̤̺͙̱ͨ̊́h̤̥̬̺̝͖̲̼ͥͬ̐t̅̓ͥ҉͕ḛ̴̡̰͓̯̙͑̍̆͜n̸̛͕̳̮̣͆̆͛̔̔͟ĩ̴̧̙͔̓ͅn̬̜͊ͫ͌ͫ͠ǧ̱̺̎̈ͨ̃̎͠ ̬̟ͮ͆̀̏́t̞͍̥͚̋ͭ͊̂͌ͧ͌͘ḧ̞̝̻̥͓̖ͧͤȅ̴̮̪͔̤̺͕̫̣͐ͨͥ ͇̙̥͈̍ͤ̋̍̌́ͅţ̸̘͉̊̚o̸̭̩͗̎̿͗̈́͆ͭu̸̸͖̣̱̽̈r̵͓̼̀͊͒ͫ̂n̰͎̮͚̜̆͊̐̌͒ͨ̀i̟̥̰̮̣̊̿͒ͩͪ̎̇̇́q̷̐̾͌ͭ̈҉̷̠̻͖͔͎̝ͅu̻̫̐̾̑͋ͤͤͭ͟͝͝ḙ͕̥̂͋̃̄͊̀͢t̖̹̰̜̣͂̌ͅ ͕̻̮̬̹̉ͪͩͨ̋̆n̨̗͖̤̫ͣͨ͐ǫ̞̤̹̻̍́ͣͭ̇w̡ͯͯ͊̇̎̎̾҉̹̱, ̢ͨ̐̇͋͂ͨ̇҉̤͍̯͕̲ ̙̣̙̦̬ͧ̐ͩ͑̊̉͝ ** _Raven_** ... ̗͈̬̫̯̼ͫ̽ͯ̓̽̅̉͡s̻͕̗̜̓̑̓̀̾̒ô͕͕̣̺͓̙̘̂̃ͨ̿̓ͮ̂r͕̼ͭ̓̔ͫ͜͞r̍̃͏̪͚͚̤̖̺̻y̒ ̖̹̪̲ͧ̉̔ͥ́, ̗͎͙̣̼̘͋ͬ͌ͪ͆͂̀͌͘ͅͅ ̽ͨ̈́̏̓ͨ͂̈́͜҉͖͈̙̫bͥ̊͌̆̕҉̠͖̜̝̗̗͜ͅu̮̳̗̠̙̘̓̏̑̾͞ͅt̗͓̯̾ͯͨ̊ͦͦ̾͑̕ ̷̲͍̼͖̗͇͚ͧ͛̑̂̈́͜͢ī̮̼͚͓̰ͪ̃̅͌ͦͣͮt̶͔͓̝̜̯̑̋'͈̯̒̀́s̷̮͚͍͍̺̘̪̪̓̄ͬ̑̓̀͞ ͓̬̭̞̠ͧ͊͝g͕͕̥̪ͦ̎̍̑ͤ̃̕͞ỏ͓̮̳̜̎̃i̡̡͉̙̺̼̻̭͙̫̓̅̽n̾̒̈́͏̤̩̮͜ͅg̴̨̦̫̰͇̖̹̾ ̰͙̏̈͌͡͡t̨͇͉̤͍́͑̄̌͑̾̚o̹̗͎̱̹̠ͩͮ̆͋͂̈ ͉͖̼͚̖̫̼ͣ̀̊̾̋ͯ̇̕ͅḥ̸̛͙͔͕̺̟̻̫͚̌̌̒̍̓͑ͩ̌͡u̸̻̹̰̮̙͉̭ͬͦ͟r̀́̎ͨ̔̎̚̕ͅṫ̛͙̮̖̰̹͕͙͂ ̲̦̪̆̏̾ͧ͒l̷̖̗̮͎̠̘͈͖̅̃͗ͦ̂ͧ̽́͠i̶̳̩̳̪̜̗͔̣ͦ̎̐̏̀kͭ̃ͪ͂ͪ̽҉͉͙̜̖̰̀e̸̽̃̽͏̼̪̯̯͖̱̳ ̻͕̭̬̟͕̻͓̣̽ͥͣ̐͛ͪͤ̑̉ạ̢̙̞̘̙̐͆͘͡ ͎̮͙͖͉̼̒̍̇ͭͯ̃͢ͅͅm͖͉̟̖͙̀ͨ͋ͤͤ͝͞ͅǫ̙̗̦̯̊ͣ̋̑̚t̴̡̯̝̅̆ͣͬͦ͠ͅh̘̹̻̫ͭ͌͛͂ͤ̚͞e̡̦̯͍̩̪̳̺̦ͫ̽ͣ̂̒̌̑r̡̟̥̻̝͍̗̥̲͓ͮ̀̐̅͆f̷͇̺̲ͧͣͤ͛u̳̪̥̪̾̄c̚ ̴̧̠̈̉̍͗K̷̨̛̦͎̗̘̒ͤ͆̃ͥͥ̈ͮ̏ê̡̠̟̺̥̳̻̙͆̅̓ͣ̊̅ͪ̍r̺̣̪̼̲̾̀ͮ̐ͥͣ͂̃.̧͍̺͉̬̮̣̪̽́ͦ̄̅ͥ̓̕ͅ.̷̧̭̼̯̭̭̘̪͉ͩ̈́̃ͣ̉ͩͅ.̦̙̳̫͚̫͖̲ͥ̔̌ͦ̾͗̑̾̐͞͞ͅ

* * *

A crushing pain in her arm.

* * *

I̧̙̟̓̇ͣͬ͢s̙̫͛̔͘ ̷̛͈̬̞̥̜̺̩͇͖̈́̿ͣ̊̽̍ͬ̚a̧͖̬̞̻̣̔ͦͪ̓ͦ̊n̨̥̟̦̈̆͌ͩ̈ͨ͊̄ỹ̂ͦͥͨ͏̨̪͝o͎̫ͩ̊ͥ̍̾͛͌͊n̡̪̜̪̐́̑̑ͧͨ͛ȩ͗̍̿̄ͣ͏̭̰͍͎ ̻̰̦̋ͪ͊̅ͣh̖̋͂͊̓̒͘͘ȅ̹̿̑͒̍ͮ͗͘͡͝r̶̲͚̘̣̂̾̃͠eͭ̄͌̑̄ͯ̔̂҉̛͔͇̝́ͅ? ̢̩̹͈̲̔ͥ̂̎͜ ̵̸̪̟̺͚̙̳ͨ̂͋̒͌͊̓̑M̱̮̙̠͌͌y̵͓̺̤͑̇̀ ̨͈̰̳̬͙̲͈̳̉ͯ̄̉̿̐̿͞n͓̼̝̟͚ͩ͠a̛͈̰͍͒͠m̻̤ͨ̈́̓͊ͥ͘e̢̯̦̰̞͈̬̜͂͋͗̊ͫ ͇̱̝̘̀ͭͫ̊ͤi͙̯͓̳̻͒͌ͥͧ͌͂s̘͇͍̃̋͢͝ ̧̧̟̙͍̦͍̝̬̓ͬ͒͋ͩ̑T̙̳̠̅̇͘aͪͧ̽̃͟ͅi̢̮͙̩̼͕̣̣̺͒̔͊ͪ̌̅̀ͨ͝y͇͍̣̰̤̭̙̹ͥ̊̀̿ạ̼͉͖͙̉ͫ̿̓ ** _Taiyang_** _Xiao Long_ ,̡̡̳̞ͤ̍̾͜ ͙͇͔̺͍̬̻̾̉̄̏̆ͥ̄ͅI͗̇͋͑ͨ͜͏̰̠͉̘̻͈̥͚͘'͂̆͗͟͏̡̝͖̣̺̟ͅm͌ͧ͏̲̥͉͉̙̝̲͟͝ͅ ̴̤͓ͭ͛̂͋͐̎̋̿ͯ͢aͨͭ̆ͪ͏̰͈̩͈̩͇̣͙̀ͅ ̹̻ͤ͐H̨̲̭͕̺͋ͫ̇ͬ̏̾̌͆u̡͈̥̟ͦ̐̚͜͟ņ̷̜̬͖͎͖̱̣̃ͮͪ́͐ͫ̄̅t̛͍̠̞̥̯̠͂ͧͣ͛̈͡s̢̆̂̅͘҉͖͔͖m̛̦̪̯̖̮̯̿ͬ̉͐͢͡a̵͍ͣ̍ͪ̐͌̕͝n̸͉̥̫̩̺̽ ͉̝͔͎͇͂̆͠͞w̧̥͓̩̲͎͆̏ḭ̘͓͇̦͖̃̽͑̓ͬ̓͂̊̾͜t̨̢̼͓͚̭̬̬̩ͬͩ͒ͫͬͮ́͡ḧ̩͙͖́̄͐̍ ̶̭̼̘͚̯̳̭̎̒ͫ̏́B̷͐͆͒̒͌̉͏̟̻̺͖ͅě̛̤̝̗͚̦̐̓͒͌́͘ͅă̲̟̟̱͚̘̥̙̲͂ͦ̾ͬ͌͟͢ç̰̗̜̦͒̃̉͌̿͐̕͢o̲̰̮͎̠͕ͤ̑ͧ̔͊n̞̠̻̩͖̩̦ͮͭ͂̊̓͊̑́̚ ͓́̓̓͊̍͠A͕͎̞͚̭͐̉̓ͦ̂͒ͨ̿̍͞çͤ̑͂̅́͐ͣ͊ͦ҉͔̜̰̯͖̩̤̪͝a͂ͨ͏̠͎̠̗̥̟̞̟͉͘̕d͖̹̞̩͇͕ͩͩͧ́͞ë̢͈͓͖͇̪́̑̓̂m̥̥͈͖͈͙̩̂ͣy̙̗͕̫̦̟ͮ̀͑ ... ̸̢̥̼̖̼̥̲̝͆ͭ̇́͐͛̎̾

* * *

Floorboards creaking loudly.

* * *

.̨̛͚̗͖̰̩̭̬̝̘̃̋ͤͪ̈́.̨̢͇ͭ͊ͩ͌̌ͯ́̃.̧ͮ̐͌͋͛ͫ͏̫̹͈I͉̠̪͇͙͉̍̿ͫͧ̽ͅt̽͗̌ͣͫ͋ͦ̈́҉̘ ̸̢̧͙͇͚̱̼̗̪͇̫̾ͤ̽͌ͭͭc̶̙̭͖͉̼ͣͭ͡u̷̴̥͙͇͉͚͚̇ͭ̀t̺̟̭͗̆̊ͪ̿̋̄̍͊̀̀ ̶̘̥͇ͧ̎h̵̲̲̙͖̳̮̪̠͐͊ͫ̾͛e̴͉̮̾ͤ̓͒̚r̹͇͑̎͐ͣ̇̀ ̘̳̹̥̞̱̻̳̋͠b̢̝͎̺̖͍̓̽ͥr̨̡̩͚̩̪͓̮̄̊ͤ̋ͨͅa̸̯̎͐ͮ͆ͤ͘c̳̣̣̪͑ͦ̄̈̌h̢̩̩̞͓̜̫̏̈̎͆ȋ̷͎͆̐͊͆͋̔ͦa̿ͪ̍͏̸͖͔ļ̬̮͙̝̣ͤ̿͗̿̔̄ͩ͒ ̛̪̜̤̟̮̭̜̾ͫͭ͟a̢̛̼͚̺͙̳̖͋͆ͭ̎̓̃̏̅͞ͅͅr̷͎̦̙̆ͦͅt̰̣͚̣̗͒̾ͥ͂̂̕̕e̘͓͙̺̟̤͌ͤr̢͖̗̦̭̠̱̺ͤ͐̓̏̏̕y̨͎̞̺͍̭͇̠̣̓̈̅̾ͤ̋̅ͨ, ̡̰͕̳̝̔ͭ͐ͥ͡ ͍͙̺ͨͨ̒̓̈́̓t̶̫̭̜͓̰͓͚͊ͯ̓̍́h̨͍̟ͮ͑ͦ̃ͤ̐a̢͔̖̠͉̹͖̻ͨ͜ͅt̸̫ͥͧͨ͞'̷̯̜̏̒͛̍͠sͦͩ̿͆̒͏̗̩̥͕̗͓ ̷̣̟̂ͧͤ͝w͎̣ͦ̐͂̒̀̃͋̀o̬̊̎̊́ͦ͡r̼̹͓̯͈͕̹̮̍͒͂̀s̩̹̳͈͙̻̙̟̏̏ͪ̑̏̅̈́͡͠e͇͔̅̓ͭ̏̓̽͌̀͢͡, ̀̎̈ͯͩ ̏͡҉̺͙̺̞̤͉ ̶̠ͬ̌͌͜ **_Qrow_**

* * *

Her body drenched in sweat.

* * *

no҉t ҉sa҉yinǵ it҉'s à good҉ plan҉ B Ut҉ ҉the ҉҉ǹear҉ȩst place҉ ̧͚̬̺͉͓̝̠̦̰̺̳̙̰̀͢͠ͅͅW̴̧͚͓͈̩̬͎͍͔̙̟͎̹̹͡͠͡i̡̛͟͞͏͓̞͎͔̫͈͖͔ţ̡̳̥̘͈̗̮͎̩̠̳͔͚͚͎͙ͅẖ͈̮̙̘͙̲̥̤̀ ̵̳̻̦̳̮̝͙͈̹̹͎̜̗̀͘a҉͍̞̰͇̞̮̺̣̣̀͟ ̸̟̫͚͙̪̪̹͙͠͝͞ͅͅh̢̡́͝͏̻͎̭̪̞̥̩̮̘̙ợ̷̧͔̥̹͉̠̗̜̩͕͈̹͖͕͡͞s̸̵̨͙͈̟͍̞̟͓̰̼̖̞̝̥̭̩͚͟p̸̲̱͕̭̬͙̻̣̥̯̲̹͍̪͡͡ͅi̠͉̺̰̜͍̩̺̭̫͎͍̖̲͡ͅt̸̶̢̕҉͉͙̻͇͈͚̣͈̤̦̹͎̲̰͉̭̼ą҉͏̴̩̬̠̭̟͜l̶̙̠͕̠̯̲͢ ͘͜͏̶̨͇̝̪͍͉̹͚̯̘̮͇͇̦̩̯̘̺̗̝í̶̴̼͎̠͍̗̰͔̫̥̯͡s̱͇̺̪̲̹̫̞̗̩̟̙̰͘͘͘ͅ ͏̛͟͜͏͕̰͈̗̞͔a҉̡͎̲̱̦̼͇̮̪̬͓̞ ̴̶͠҉̡̰̗͔̳̹̲̭̦̖͎͔̰ͅc̢͉͖̹̠͚͢͞o̵̵̡̹̘̲̱͈̪̲͎̰͖͖̠̪̘͓̺͢͠u̢̙̤̻͉̮̺̟̮͉͉͞p̷̖͎̼̺͕͓͈̭̞͎͇̙̩͖̞̟͟͟͞ĺ̴̢͏̴͔̪̭̫̠̜̙̭͎̦͓͔̞̮̪͈̬̯̪e̡͉͖̤̺̳̤̫̱̹̗̫͟ ̵̴҉͏̲̘̺͙̜̳͍̟̗̩͍̥͇͖ẖ̷̶̴̵̪͖̬̺̯͖̭̭͇͠ứ̸̦̻͚̼̺͞ ̦͇̙̟͈N̶̨͜҉̜͖̝͎̰̖̺̘͉̟ͅd͏͏̸̺̤̭̠̹͕͟͞ŕ̢̰̘̘̖̗̯̰͍̤̣͍͖̼͉̭͢͡é̵̡̘̠͓̫͕̗̱͔͖͓d̵̷̩̳̩̞̹̲̠̻̲̀͞ ̧͚̜̯͚̙͇̼̮̝̣̯͖͟ͅͅm̩̯͕̞̪̟̳̘͚̲̤̱͚̫̕͜͟i̡̛̞̯͖͖̳̩͙̲͙̠̭̬͔̮̮͇ͅļ̡̣͖͎̰͎̬͍͍͟ȩ͞҉̛͉̟̘̞̪͕͇̙͔͙͎͕̺̫̖̤̣ş͎̯̞͓̠̣͈̰̲̝̝͜, ̵̛͈͕͕̲͙͇̤̞͉̳̲̮͓͖͞ͅ ̲̤̩̮̭͖̳̻͓̩̱̜̯͇͢͠a̴̡͇̳̦̗̪͇͎̬̥͠n҉̛̳̠̺̺͚͓̩̠̙͕̮̣͔̞ḏ̵̵̤͙͔͓̘̹͈̭̪̫͈͖̼͈̙̮̯́ ̛̰͈͔̯͟͝͠ ** _Summer_** s̶̢̧̛̭͔ͅͅá̶̩̺͈̬͎i͏͏̥̘͉̹͚͖̘̹͍̙̝̺̟̪d̴̨̮͖͇͙͕̯͍́͘ ̶̢͍̳̤͖͙̤̣̮̰̼̲͎̘̻̹̀͢͝t͡҉̶͖͕̹̗̠͕̮̤̙͈͇͘͠ͅh͎̗̦̹̤̭͈͇̕͢͠a̛̠̙͓̣̣͝ṭ̵̷͓͉̱̬̯̫̻̟̫͚̲̻͈̩̞͠ ̠͚̺͔̻̤͔͔͓̭̲̝͍͘͟͠͠t̡̨̮̝̜̻̹͙̻͇̗̺̼̝h̡̭̙̹̱͉͎̬̀ͅe̛̖̠̯͈̤̬̪ ̸҉̵̛͎̙̜͓̳͉w̨̢̤̹͖̙̙̩̪͇̫̙̦̗̰͔ͅo͏̰̻̝̖̘͎̱̝̗͕͚͎̣̻̝̥̹̕ų̴̶̛͓͖͕̝͙̫̖̺͘ǹ̟͕̫̥̙̜̼̦̗̬̪̭̣̭͕͕̱̩̀d̸͡͏̢̫͇͎̠̞̪̬̮̟̝͙̼͔̙͢ ̨̡̝̗̪̻̳̹͖̮͔̫͉͍͎͉̲ͅẃ̼̬̰̞̺̭̰̺̦͈̜̙͍̼̪̱͍́ͅo͢͏̧͕͙̤̟ ͖͈͖̼̫̻͎̞̤͎̲̖N̴̨̗̥̗͖̮̼̖̕͡'̵̱̯͙̦̻̭̝̀͢͞t͖̭̰̖̣̖̰́ ̺̟̩̮̼̺̼̙͝ͅc̜͖̪̲͕̟̹̱͢͞l̡̞̯̫̥̻̻͎͚̤̳͈͔̭̯̀͢o̷̩͓̟̞̬̺̟̕͞t̵̞̠̫̼͉͜͜͞͞ ̵͙̙͉͘ͅư̧̯̮̫̤̭̱̮̻̫̟͕͘͠ǹ̵̸̷҉͔̻̟̤̝͈͕͕̼̝̯͔̻̤l̵̛̠̰͍̼͉̙̳̦̯͇͖̫̖̪̱̝̠̞̤͢e̷͏͏͖̰̯͈̹̦͖͟ͅͅş̴̴̺̼̦̰̹͠ş̴̝̼̲̞͍̮̺͍̜̳̰̫͖͘͘͞ͅ ̵̨͖̣͍͕͙͎̠̭̕͝w̴̸͉̦̠͙̫͈̰̱̫̣͚̙̰̬͞͝é҉͇̤̠͕͉̬ ̥͉̤̘͓͎̹̺̰̙͍̦͚̗̱͡͞c͏̴̨͎͖̮̭̟͔̳̩̻̥͕̣̱̟͢a̡͘͞҉͎͍̞n̡͇͍̯̬̰̝̟̻̱͈̯̯͍̙̕

* * *

Movement on the edge of her vision.

* * *

“....if you’re not there by six I swear I will never-”

“-she’s my _sister_ , Tai, don’t…”

* * *

“She’s awake.”

Raven let out a groan, followed by a dry and painful cough. She blinked her eyes open, wincing at the dim light of the setting sun. Squinting her eyes, Raven’s brain slowly began processing, brain cells seeming to come to life one by one.

She stared up at an unfamiliar ceiling.

“Where am I?” she managed to ask, though the three-word sentence seemed to take an inordinate amount of energy.

A silhouette loomed over her. “I know this might come as a surprise to you, Raven Branwen,” murmured the voice, familiar but unidentifiable to her ear. “Your teammates struggled valiantly to carry you to safety, after you sustained a serious injury while fighting a rogue Grimm horde.”

There was a long pause.

“You bled to death a little over four hours ago. Welcome to hell, Raven Branwen.”


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

_“You bled to death a little over four hours ago. Welcome to hell, Raven Branwen.”_

Raven’s heart nearly burst from her chest as she bolted upright, eyes wide, coming face-to-face with-

-Taiyang Xiao Long, with his hands cupped over his mouth. 

“ ** _You._** ”

“Wait!” Raven heard Rose’s voice behind her, but it was like a whisper in a hurricane. “You’ll rip your IV out! And it took me like four tries to find a vein-”

Raven was seated upright, staring down Tai, who was flashing his palms in mock surrender and trying his best to stifle his laughter. “I am going to _murder_ you.”

She felt Rose’s hands - so small and so soft - on her own arm, trying to restrain her. Raven’s armor was gone, she distantly realized, and she was wearing only her tunic. Her right arm was covered in bandages, wrappings so thick they were almost a cast, and in her left arm…

“You lost a lot of blood, Raven, please just lie down for a second…”

Her homicidal fantasies hadn’t diminished in the slightest, but Raven felt herself being guided back to a mattress, her head onto a pile of pillows of the softest stuffing. She wasn’t sure where exactly this bedroom _was_ , but she wagered it was an isolated farmstead. There were hundreds of them scattered in the Kingdom’s vast, unsettled lands, sometimes in small communities, but commonly not. Their inhabitants usually relied more on positive thinking than firepower to keep themselves safe from the Grimm, so far were they from the Hunters’ regular patrol zones. She idly wondered where _these_ homesteaders were now.

“How do you feel, Raven?”

_Those silver eyes._

“Like absolute shit, Rose.”

That answer was enough for Summer, who let out a small smile that could’ve cleared her skin and watered her fields. That smile evaporated when she turned to glare at Taiyang. “That was mean, Tai.”

Tai had the decency to look at least look somewhat contrite. “Yeah…” he agreed, rubbing the back of his neck. “But did you _see_ Raven’s face?”

Summer made a disapproving _humpf_ , though the way her lips were pursed look like a suppressed smile to Raven’s eye. _Fine_. She’d get her revenge at a date TBD. Until then, this mattress was soft, and…

“...the fuck is in my arm, Rose?”

Tai, apparently having completed his half-minute’s penitence, walked over to the left side of Raven’s bed. “Sixteen-gauge catheter, Raven, connected to an IV, connected to one 450 milliliter blood bag.” He flicked a transparent sack, which was hanging from a coat rack that had been shanghaied into serving as an IV pole. “Courtesy of Team STRQ’s resident universal donor.”

He smiled at Summer, causing her to blush, and fidget with the fringe of her cloak.

Taiyang and Summer’s scrolls buzzed simultaneously. Raven frowned at that - they were too far from civilization to be connected to any networks - before realizing that they were alarms. Glancing at Tai’s scroll, she could see that he had Summer’s Aura monitor on-screen.

“Back above the redline. Ready?”

Raven sat up. “What’re you-”

Summer nodded. “Ready.”

They moved with an eerie smoothness, the quiet competence of Hunters at a serious task. It was an uncommon side of Taiyang to see, Raven thought, his playfulness subsumed by studious professionalism.

Tai moved quickly, sliding a thin needle into Summer’s antecubital fossa, on the inside of her elbow. Raven, like her brother, had an instinctual aversion to needles (an aversion that had bordered on ‘ _problematic_ ’ during her first Beacon-mandated medical examination), but Summer didn’t so much as flinch at the puncture. She clenched and unclenched her fist, coaxing blood from her veins down the IV tubing, to a collection bag at her feet.

And Tai was already there, cradling the bag in his hands. Raven watched, strangely spellbound, as he gently rocked the bag, making sure Summer’s blood was mixed with the anticoagulant coating within.

Raven’s eyes moved from the bag being filled, to the bag now draining into her own arm, to an emptied one discarded in the corner of the room. Her brow furrowed. “What happened to me?” she asked, her quiet tone conveying an uncanny seriousness.

Tai and Summer exchanged glances. “A lot,” Tai finally said, solemnly. “Something managed to cut your brachial artery, fucked up most of your bicep, too. You _really_ didn’t feel it?”

Raven stared at her right arm, focusing her mind on the dull _throbbing_ sensation therein. “No,” she answered. “Didn’t even feel my Aura break.”

It was a common enough problem. Auras protected Hunters from physical damage, but they still felt pain. That created a bad habit of bodily dissociation, though, as Hunters trained themselves - consciously or otherwise - to ignore pain and keep fighting. The body’s natural warning system, rendered mute. There were more than a few horror stories – apocryphal or otherwise – of Hunters who hadn’t realized their Auras were gone, who had walked away from battles only to realize too late that the pain they were feeling came from mortal wounds. It was less common now, in an era where Scrolls were synched to their owner’s Aura levels and pre-programmed to raise all manner of alarms, but Beacon Academy still saw a few hospitalizations a year from freshmen who’s Scrolls had glitched, broken, or been ignored.

“Well, you got cut pretty bad,” Tai continued. “And whatever it was, it had some pretty fucked up venom. You’re still not clotting.”

“Probably thanks to a reprolysin-type zinc metalloproteinase,” Summer chimed in, demonstrating for the _umpteenth_ time that she was the only member of STRQ who regularly did her Required Readings. “So Tai and I came up with this setup,” she continued, gesturing vaguely to the intravenous arrangement. “I can’t get whatever venom is in your blood out, not on my own. So, we’re sticking with transfusions, keep you breathing, until you can coagulate again.”

Raven blinked, taking a long moment to process what had been said to her. “You’re saying I’m still bleeding out?”

Tai nodded. “Basically. We had to remove the tourniquet for now, before permanent nerve damage set in. I’m hoping those bandages will hold for another hour, because otherwise I’m going to be cleaning this room with a mop.”

The joke didn’t land, unfortunately, and an awkward silence fell over the room.

“That’s why Qrow’s gone,” Summer added, softly as ever. “We’re not supposed to be picked up for another four days, and it’d take a full day of hiking just to get anywhere with a signal.”

“So Qrow went alone,” Raven concluded. She knew he hated flying alone.

“Yeah,” Tai added. “We did some quick math. We’re a little more than three hundred miles from the first town with an actual hospital, the one in, uh, Fermo. Qrow could probably make that in about six hours. As, y’know, the bird flies.” Tai scratched his neck. “But we’re giving him eight hours, to be safe. Once the clock strikes six, a little after sunrise…”

Summer made a _whooshing_ noise with her mouth, waving her fingers to convey the eeriness of Raven’s portals. That earned her a grin.

“It’s a good plan,” Raven conceded, sinking back into the pillows. “...Thanks.”

“Hey, don’t thank me,” Tai protested, “thank your own personal blood bank there.”

Raven turned her head, catching Summer’s sheepish smile. “Would you be mad if I told you I’ve always wanted to try this?”

Raven snorted. It was an old Huntsmen skill, supposedly, though one nobody could ever remember being pulled off. Your typical, Aura-still-locked civilian needed to wait a whole eight weeks between blood donations, because it took that long for their red blood cells to naturally regenerate. A Hunter with well-honed Aura, however, could give their own helping hand to the hematopoiesis process.

And Summer Rose’s Aura was something else entirely.

“Most people at least buy me dinner...” Raven had to pause for a moment as she was seized by hacking coughs. “...Buy me dinner… before giving me their fluids.”

It was a weak joke, but her teammates laughed at it anyways.

Raven felt fatigue pull at her, but she struggled to stay awake, watching Tai and Rose. Some minutes later - fading in and out as she was, Raven’s sense of time was shot - she watched as Taiyang delicately disconnected the needle from Summer’s arm, then went about swapping one of Raven’s blood bags for a freshly topped up one. And then, some minutes later, Raven watched the process begin again, Summer inhaling softly as Tai slid a needle into her skin.

And then Raven was crying.

Very gently, and quietly, so quietly that it was almost a minute before Summer noticed. Tears that ran in thin rivulets across her cheeks, breaths hitching with little hiccups.

“Oh gods, Raven,” Summer murmured, taking Raven’s hand in her own. And for once, Raven didn’t resist, didn’t squirm or pull away. “It’s okay,” she added, fingers stroking the back of Raven’s hand with a silken touch. “It’s okay.”

Raven sucked in a deep breath, feeling her lungs expand as she forced air into them. Her throat sounded wet as she exhaled.

“Raven, are you…” Taiyang took a spot on the other side of the bed, crouching low beside her. “.... crying?”

Raven blew out a breath through pursed lips. “No,” she lied, squeezing her eyes shut. “Blood loss… must be causing brain damage.”

She found Taiyang’s hand with her own free one, and grabbed it.

And there they stayed, waiting for the sun to rise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your readership. Please feel free to leave any comments, thoughts, feedback, or headcanons in the comments. Criticism is the only way I’ll ever get better as a writer. This work did not have a proofreader or beta-editor, so please feel free to point out any typographical mistakes.
> 
> Feels good to dust off the old keyboard. I’ve got something pretty different/ambitious in mind for a writing project, so this is a bit of a warm-up work. Hopefully it was enjoyable.
> 
> Full disclosure – I’m not a doctor. I don’t even watch medical shows. I did a decent amount of Googling to try to make sure things make sense, but it’s only remotely plausible in the World of Remnant, with its Grimm and Auras.
> 
> Zalgo text was generated at <http://www.eeemo.net/>, a website by tchouky. Just a little stylistic experiment, as an alternative to leaving large blank spots. Might have been a bit much, but wanted to try it.
> 
> As always, feel free to connect with me on [reddit](https://www.reddit.com/user/pvoberstein/overview), [Tumblr](http://pvoberstein.tumblr.com/), or [MyAnimeList](https://myanimelist.net/profile/pvoberstein), where I use the pvoberstein username.


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